QMS scoops major marketing award

A Scottish beef campaign, which helped increase sales of Scotch Beef PGI by 30% and turn it into London’s biggest meat brand, has won a major marketing prize.

Quality Meat Scotland’s ‘Great Quality of Life, Great Quality of Taste’ campaign was awarded the ‘Public Sector – Other Services’ prize at the Marketing Excellence Awards, which were organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing and held in the Grosvenor House hotel in London.

The judges said that the campaign, which was co-financed by the European Union, was “an impressive example of the power of effective marketing to increase sales and support market entry through creating consumer awareness and understanding even in difficult times.”

Laurent Vernet, QMS’ head of marketing, said: “The award was based on the strategy, implementation and results of the marketing campaign, and it’s a great achievement for the Scottish beef industry to have won such a prestigious accolade.

“The industry’s continued investment in high-quality campaigns that have had strong results in a highly competitive market is something that every cattle farmer in Scotland can be rightly proud of.

“We needed to reinvigorate the Scotch Beef PGI brand on a modest budget and, through listening to consumers, we were able to make minor adaptations to the existing creative to better reflect what they wanted. The new campaign saw Scotch Beef become the best-known red meat brand in London, with brand awareness reaching its highest-ever level, and sales increasing by 30% in late 2010.”

The campaign targeted women aged 35-and-over, as they are regarded as the main food-shoppers for the family, using point-of-sale posters, commuter Underground posters, quality newspaper magazines and online adverts on recipe sites, such as Delia Online and BBC Good Food. The campaign’s three-pronged message focused on the brand’s heritage and natural environment, combined with the message of high-quality taste and animal welfare offered by the assurance schemes.

QMS marketing controller Suzie Carlaw said: “Listening to consumers meant our existing creative could be adapted in a cost-effective way, which ultimately resulted in a stronger and more relevant consumer brand.

“Working with Mediacom, we picked outdoor formats that allowed for a longer dwell time, such as 48-sheet London Underground cross-tracks and magazine inserts to enable us to highlight brand heritage and bring the story to life.”

Brand awareness was increased from 29% to 49% between 2009 and 2010, the highest-ever recorded in that market.